Today's Take: Keeping youth involved in Catholic Church is aim of expanded program

The SPIRITUS-Green Bay team, from left, Melissa LaNeve, Emily Shackleton, Jared Cunio, Julie Escobar and Noah Simmons, and Kate Ruth, who is not pictured, work to get young people more involved in the Catholic Church.

Jared Cunio said he's seen the difference 20-somethings can make in helping energize other youth to take an active role in the Catholic Church.

Cunio is part of a program - SPIRITUS - led by people age 20-29 with the goal of connecting with young Catholics through more than 150 retreats and youth ministry. Late this year the program expanded to include a team in the Green Bay area offering youth ministry at Resurrection and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parishes.

Nine young adults work in the Fox River Valley, and six are working in the Green Bay area.

SPIRITUS is one of the programs offered by the Menasha-based Mount Tabor Center, which offers retreats and ministry to thousands of young Catholics in Wisconsin.

"A four-hour retreat, a five-hour retreat, or an overnight retreat can really have an impact on a young person's life, but we see a much bigger impact when we can see the same person week in and week out," Cunio said. "We can see how they grow ... and they start to see there is more to life than the little bubbles they were in."

Cunio, a Florida native, worked with the Mount Tabor Center for three years, starting right after graduating from college. Most participants in the 5-year-old SPIRITUS program give nine months of service.

"I was looking for a job with the church that would be service orientated ... I moved up here, and it was mostly retreat ministry and we started getting more into youth ministry, working directly with individual parishes last year," he said. "This year we decided to work with more parishes, and that included a couple in Green Bay and Allouez."

Big picture, the program is aimed helping keep young people engaged with the Catholic Church.

"There are stats out there that say 85 percent of young adults leave the faith," said Eden Foord, director and founder of SPIRITUS. "It's hugely important these young people step up and are role models for younger kids, because that movement younger kids see is 'I get confirmed and I leave the faith.'

"These people are saying, 'Look at faith, there's something really important here,'" he said. "We don't have to follow this movement, we can change it by doing something different."

Cunio, who carries the title of SPIRITUS coordinator and youth ministry coordinator at Resurrection parish in Allouez, said the move to working with parishes in the Green Bay area has been a natural progression for the organization, not just in terms of location, but increased involvement in youth ministry.

"For a lot of high school students and middle school students, just seeing there are people under the age of their parents who think faith is important, just seeing that is enough to get them excited a little bit," he said. "We can speak to them and speak their language."

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Today's Take: Keeping youth involved in Catholic Church is aim of expanded program

Jared Cunio said he's seen the difference 20-somethings can make in helping energize other youth to take an active role in the Catholic Church.

A link to this page will be included in your message.

Join Our Team!

If you are interested in working for an innovative media company, you can learn more by visiting: